Online book sales increased during stay-at-home period: Expert

ISTANBUL

Online book sales increased by 100 percent and children’s book sales increased by 200 percent in Turkey during stay-at-home orders called for due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Kenan Kocatürk, the head of the Turkish Publishers Association, has said.

Noting that book sales fell 63 percent in April, the peak of the pandemic in the country, Kocatürk said that this decline ended at the end of the month and an increase in online sales narrowed this gap.

Adding that the sales of children’s books increased by 200 percent as families heeded stay-at-home orders, Kocatürk said the sales of educational books also increased due to the preparation of the youth for high school and university exams.

“We can say that children and literature books are more prominent [in terms of sales], and research and education books are lagging behind,” he noted.

Emphasizing that the interest in books will continue in the summer months, Kocatürk reminded that the bookstores started to serve again, all following hygiene conditions.